Broken
by kittymeowcake
Summary: Generations after the Clans of warriors defeated the Dark Forest cats, 5 mysterious travelers came to WindClan for shelter. That night, hundreds of invading cats destroyed the Clans. All except for one apprentice.
1. Past

"And there, Firestar- Rusty, as he was called then, said goodbye to his kittypet life and ventured into the forest where he met Lionheart-"

The elder telling the ancient tale paused and a bout of hacking and coughing fell over him. A small white she-cat grabbed some catmint from a cleft in the rock they were in, and bounded back to the the elder to give him some. He lapped it up quickly and began telling the legend again, the young she-cat listening closely.

"And that's how Rusty became Firepaw. Towards the beginning of his apprenticeship he and Sandpaw-"

He was interrupted again by a tabby tom leaning into the crack where the two cats were. "Dawnpool, Reedstar needs you. It's urgent."

Dawnpool glanced back to the gray elder and he nodded to her. "Go, your leader needs you. I can finish my story later."

Dawnpool's whiskers twitched with joy and she followed the tabby tom out of her den and into the WindClan camp. A powerful gust of wind almost blew the she-cat off her paws, and she shivered at its sharp taste. Leafbare would be here soon. Hopefully no cat would get greencough. A cluster of cats stood around something presumably interesting, and the tom led Dawnpool through the crowd.

"Oh, you must be the... medicine cat?" 5 she-cats stood in the center of the crowd and a beautiful, sleek black one strided up to Dawnpool, not noticing the cats staring at her. Something about this cat made Dawnpool feel uneasy.

"Yes, I am." Dawnpool said stiffly.

"Oh, well you _have_ to take care of my fallen comrade." One of the 5 she-cats had bites all over her thick tabby pelt, and wouldn't meet the gaze of anyone. "This is Ocean. She was attacked by rats," whispered the black she-cat, more to the tabby tom than Dawnpool. "It was very scary for all of us..." She flashed a suggestive gaze to the tom again.

The medicine cat nodded once, and then gestured for Ocean to come to her den. Briefly Dawnpool heard Reedstar telling the she-cats to make themselves at home for the night, before she ducked back down in her den to work on Ocean's bites. "These are quite large for rat bites," she mused. Ocean ducked her head.

Soon she was done and returned to the surface of the camp where dusk was falling. Some cats had grabbed a rabbit and shared on the edges of the camp and others chatted with the new she-cats. Dawnpool's earlier guard Oakwing trotted up to her. "Their names are Ivy, Ocean, Fawn and Owl. The pretty black one is Raven." Dawnpool rolled her eyes at his remark. _Toms._

Raven was traipsing around the camp, seeming to not notice the blunt stares of young toms. "Oh, hello, Oakwing." Raven paused to look at him with gleaming blue eyes.

"H-hey Raven..." Oakwing stared at her blankly.

"Come with me, Oakwing. Lets take care of the rest of this... somewhere private." She winked at him and his jaws dropped. They scampered away from camp and Dawnpool sighed. The rest of the she-cats except Ocean were charming other toms into who knows what around camp and they all nodded vigorously as each one asked to come and do the do with them. _Well, thats odd._

Suddenly Ocean grabbed Dawnpool with both paws. "Dawnpool!" she shrieked. "You have to get out of here! You're going to die!"

Dawnpool's heart beat faster as cats gathered around to look at what was happening. The medicine cat shoved Ocean off as Reedstar bounded toward the commotion. "What is going on here?" he growled.

"Oh, you'll see." A voice sounded from above the camp, and Raven appeared at the top of the ridge before the dip of the camp, blood spattered on her mouth. Dawnpool stared at her, horror creeping into her bones. Suddenly the black she-cat shoved a corpse down into the camp, and as it rolled, wiping the lifeblood on the ground, Dawnpool made out the tabby pelt of Oakwing.

Dawnpool felt sick.

Suddenly dozens of cats streamed into the camp, slitting throats before any cat could even know they were going to die. Dawnpool shrieked and blindly ran to the nursery, terrified. But it wasn't safe. An invader was already standing with the bloody body of a kit in her mouth. She spit it out and chased Dawnpool away into the frenzy of screeching cats running for their lives.

The medicine cat tripped on the lifeless body of her leader and shrieked, fearscent and blood filling her scents until she couldn't breathe. Suddenly blood filled her vision. The kit-killing she-cat had shoved her claws into Dawnpelt's green eyes.

Dawnpelt yowled with all the pain in the world.

And then she couldn't feel anything.


	2. Run

Smokepaw's ear twitched. A fly was buzzing around the ThunderClan apprentice's den, and noisily decided to land on his ear. Sunlight filtered into the den and the young cat turned his head back into his nest. Strangely it was quite moist. Rain must've fallen during the night, and Smokepaw sniffed. All he could smell was fresh-kill.

There were several flies in the den, buzzing around in silence. The cry of an eagle jolted the young cat awake and he opened his eyes.

Suddenly Smokepaw remembered the attack. His heart throbbed in his throat. All around him were bodies. Bodies of his friends, bodies of his family, bodies of cats from another Clan. And there was so much blood, covering his own gray pelt and.. everything.

He stood up, and his paw landed on his friend Quailpaw. It sank into her open ribcage and Smokepaw felt bile rise into his throat. No noise came out of his mouth; his growing fearscent filled his mouth yet did not overcome the scent of blood and death.

Smokepaw ran out of the den to his camp, where Ripplestar lay on top of three dead kits with his jaws bared. Warriors who died fighting lay in puddles of dried blood.

Smokepaw's mentor, Thrushtail, was by the rock ledge. Her skull was smashed and shards of it lay around her bloodstained tortoiseshell pelt. Her apprentice made his way to her, picking his way through the bodies with his eyes shut tightly. When he got to the dead she-cat, he gagged on the stench of her corpse, which was stronger than most of the other bodies.

He lay his head on her shoulder, and whispered a prayer to StarClan.

There would be no survivors, except for him.

Tears running down his cheeks carved a path through the blood caked on his soft fur. He ran out of the camp and into the forest, breathing in the scents of trees. He had to leave.

So he ran. As fast as his legs could carry him.

He never looked back.


	3. Fall

Blood streamed off the tip of Smokepaw's tail as he shoved his way through branches and twigs, running far from his home to never come back. His lungs burned with the fire of a thousand claws scratching down his flanks. But he was a determined cat, and he kept running for what seemed like sky-lengths before a shot of pain struck his leg. He collapsed to the dusty ground below him, cradling his limb in his leftover paws. _This has to be a dream. It can't be happening.._

"Hey, you!" Blurry voices began to sound from the tips of Smokepaw's consciousness, and as he opened his eyes he could make out two worried faces, one of a she-cat younger than him but older than a kit's age, and another of an older tom.

"Are you okay?" The tom asked again, gently prodding Smokepaw with a large yellow paw.

"Father! His paw is cut open!" The she-kit was looking all over Smokepaw and she had grabbed his front paw. A large stick had embedded itself in his paw, and she was staring at it in horror. _Has she never seen blood before?_ The apprentice snatched his paw back and attempted to stand on all fours.

Immediately he collapsed back to the ground. "Ugh." Looking back up he noticed the two strangers staring at him. "Oh, uh.." he paused.

"What happened to you?" The yellow tom murmured.

Smokepaw looked down. "My home was destroyed. I have nothing where I came from. So I ran away." The yellow tom bowed his head for a moment, as if remembering Smokepaw's home as it was his own. _These cats might not be bad._

"Can I stay with you?" Smokepaw asked, his black eartips perking up. Both cats nodded and the yellow tom gestured for him to lean on his side so they could walk through the forest.

"Our names are Milo and Thunder." _Thunder._ "We live here in the forest with my mate and Milo's littermates. You may stay as long as you need, Smokepaw," meowed the yellow tom, kindness sparkling in his yellow eyes.

"Where do you come from?" Milo yipped. Thunder shot her a meaningful glance, but Smokepaw answered.

"I am from a Clan of cats. But invaders came and killed everyone except me."

"I'm sorry." Milo glanced downwards to her golden paws. She looked like her father.

"It's fine."

The cats padded through the trees in silence until they reached a thick oak trunk towering into the sunhigh sky.

"I'm not sure how we're gonna get you up here, Smokepaw." Thunder cast a concerned glance up the tree and Smokepaw followed his gaze.

"You live up there?" Smokepaw asked, bewilderment crawling into his green gaze.

"Yep!" Milo mewed with a hint of pride.

Smokepaw launched himself onto the trunk, crawling his way up like a spider with three legs. His useless paw dangled from the tree awkwardly. Soon he was at the top, and looked down with a smirk. "I made it!"

"Wow.." Milo whispered.

"The kits in my Clan were trained to climb! I was always the best," Smokepaw bragged, but immediately grew sad thinking of them. Thinking of the blood. He could've buried them.

Smokepaw noticed that Thunder and Milo were making their way up the trunk, so he took a moment to explore. Their home was up in the tallest part of the tree, and was a flat, roomy area in between three branches sheltered by their leaves. A rabbit lay on a pile of leaves in the center of the bare trunk and he stared at it hungrily.

"Dig in," grunted Thunder, noticing how the gray apprentice was eying the fresh kill. "Our family should be here soon. They'd love to meet you." Smokepaw followed with no complaints and relished the taste of rabbit meat. If only Thrushtail or Quailpaw was here to share it with him after a hunt. Quailpaw loved rabbit.

Flashes of ripped open carcasses appeared in Smokepaw's mind. He yowled suddenly and Thunder glanced at him, seeing the new tears running down his cheeks. "I'm sorry about your Clan," he murmured. "But you lived for a reason." His brilliant yellow eyes turned to the sky, looking at the sun. "I have heard of your Clans before. How you have ancestors in the stars."

Smokepaw nodded.

"Well, I don't believe in that. But I do think everything happens for a reason. And I see greatness in you," he said, looking back down at Smokepaw before turning to speak to Milo.

Smokepaw lay down in a moss bed similar to his own on the edge of one of the branches. It felt like home.

But home was gone.

Forever.


	4. Hunt

Smokepaw woke up earlier than usual that morning. As his eyes drifted open he saw Thunder's mate, a beautiful white she-cat with the same beautiful blue eyes as Milo. Three kits- all seeming younger than Milo, were curled in her belly, and she shifted in her sleep, curling her tail over them. Milo herself was curled along the black stripe on Smokepaw's spine and he briefly wondered if he had slept in her nest. Her father silently watched the forest from a tall branch above.

Memories of Smokepaw's own family flashed in his eyes and he shook them off. They were gone now, and there was no going back. He kept repeating that until he didn't think of them at all.

He felt Milo stir beside him and he turned to glance at her. She looked back up at him with large glimmering eyes illuminated by the gray light of dawn and he blinked warmly.

Thunder noticed them moving and gracefully leaped from the branch and into the tree hollow. "Good morning," he whispered to the younger cats.

"Why are we all up so early?" growled Milo, shaking her fur out and scampering out of the nest.

"Because they were hunting last night."

"Who was hunting what?" Smokepaw asked, smelling fear-scent coming off of Milo. His paws started to sweat since he thought he already knew the answer.

"The cats that.." Thunder didn't continue that sentence. "They are called the Black League. They come from far North. It's said among the cats in this forest that they have some kind of religion like you. And their god tells them to kill everyone, basically. Last night was their 'hunt'. You probably woke because you heard the screams of innocents."

"That's stupid," Milo meowed.

"Not to them it isn't," Thunder muttered.

Smokepaw felt his jaw tremble. Tears pushed their way out of his green eyes and they turned to glass.

Thunder noticed but continued. "Smokepaw, Milo, don't leave today. Get your rest. I will go hunt, maybe, but tomorrow we leave. Our home will be next."

Smokepaw returned to his nest with Milo, his tears drying in the moss still warm from the previous night. Thunder's family still slept as the sun gently colored the sky in pinks and oranges.

Milo curled up beside him, and he felt her warmth on his soft fur. Her sweet scent flooded his nostrils and made him think of Quailpaw.

Quailpaw, Thrushtail. All of them were dead. This was his home now.

This was his family now. And for the first time complete peace washed over the apprentice.


End file.
